Community Medicine Abstracts - College of Medicine and Health ...

Project No. 135 (1998)Seat Belt Awareness and Usage in Al-AinStudent Authors: Mohammed Rashed Al Kaabi, Salem Bakhit Al NeaimiFaculty Supervisors: Prof. N. Norman, Dr. G. NicolAbstract:Objectives To explore the awareness, attitude, and compliance of seat belt users in Al-Ain city following compulsory law introduction.Methods Cross sectional survey and direct observational study. The study populationwas drawn from vehicle drivers in Al-Ain city. The questionnaires were given to 400subjects and 286 were returned. 404 subjects were studied during the observationalsurvey.Results In the questionnaire 52.5 % of subjects started wearing seat belts after thelaw introduction compared to only 40.1 of subjects beforehand.74.1% of the studiedsubjects think that seat belt bearing can save driver from severe injury. However, thequestionnaire indicated that 50% of children aged from 2-1 0 years are not securedwhen they travel in the car. The observational study showed that only 70% ofsubjects were wearing seat belt while driving.Conclusion The obligatory law had great influence on seat belt usage by increasing thenumbers of users and an increasing proportion of the population is aware of thebenefit of seat belt usage.